At the Farmers Request

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I had a couple of farmers phone me in the week requesting me to shoot the one we had shot his rape a couple of times and we know he has another shooter on it. We checked it out last week and the the birds just left and did not return.

So on Thursday I drove to his other field. Before I talk about the shooting we often hear new shooters ask how do you find out who owns the field you want to shoot?. Now the stock answer is to ask locally, in this case it would not help as all the local farms have been bought by wealthy commuters and the land bought by a large local estate or land banked by large building companies. This farmer inherited a one hundred acre field with no dividing hedges and a few mature oaks and this field is fifteen miles from his main farm. The rape in this field is L shaped with the remainder being grass for hay. I arranged to meet the farmer on site to discuss his pigeon problem, as I drove to the field about fifty birds lifted when the gas gun fired and the went to another rape field across the road on a farm that does not allow shooting. The farmer arrived and was shocked that the birds had gone as he said they are always here!! I agreed to stop and shoot to see if they return. Can I drive the field to get to the far end as I could see a constant flightline along the far edge? no can you not shoot from here!!. So he left me to it. I set up on the understanding that the birds that had lifted with the gas gun were behind me and would return. So magnet and ten on spikes and waited , yes they all returned in a flock, two down and off they go. Thats how the day developed with the same flock coming back and being shot. I had started at 12.00 and finished at 16.00 and picked up fortynine birds. I had seen alot of birds flighting the far end of the field but my shots had kept them on the move but next time I shoot it I will have to do the long walk as they would have decoyed I believe.

Today, Saturday we had a look at the second farmers rape and it had birds down but as we drove the track by the field they all lifted and left the area we waited fiften minutes and nothing returned so we decided to keep looking. We found two farms with good flocks feeding on the rape but could not shoot due to the Game shooters. So we returned to the farm that we looked at last week to find birds in the trees but not feeding. We walked them off and some started to return straight away so we set up. The first birds to return was a group of four birds now we normally let the first birds back land in the pattern to see if it is effective. The lead bird straight in the three other just flared away. This was the pattern for the day birds approaching and then just spooking.We went through the changes and nothing would entice them in. The only saving grace was that we are aware of a flightline to a roost wood across this field and as it was starting to get dark this line started and the birds were attracted to our decoys on the way to roost. We had started shooting at 12.00 and finished at 16.00, so in four hours we picked up eightyfive pigeons thanks to the roost flightline.

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Question - is the amount you shoot making a big difference in the pigeon numbers or are you just taking a few percentage of them? I ask as I often see huge number here in Sussex and wondered how on earth you can shoot enough to make a big difference?

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Question - is the amount you shoot making a big difference in the pigeon numbers or are you just taking a few percentage of them? I ask as I often see huge number here in Sussex and wondered how on earth you can shoot enough to make a big difference?

Thanks and good shooting

Not that I'm aware of as we see large flocks of birds in the locality, we try to rest farms and let them build up and shoot again.

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These reports are a testament to your experience, fieldcraft & above all your accuracey when set up.I think a lot of us here know that bags like these don't just materialise from thin air. Yet another satisfying read at a late Sunday breakfast; With your report PC & a trip to watch The Saints winning yesterday it has turned into rather a good weekend! Unfortunately my pigeoning has had to stop temporarily as my gamedealer has stopped taking pigeons for reasons best known only to him. With two freezers full & unable to find anyone else to take them I'm reluctant to shoot & just dump the birds. I hope he starts to take them again after the game season ends?

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Just back from a days driven at North Kyme, Lincolnshire ( super day, seriously nice people) whilst talking between drives the locals said that a large number of woodpigeon had arrived from somewhere .... but as I replied..."Here today, gone tomorrow"

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Can﻿﻿﻿ I drive the field to get to the far end as I could see a constant flightline along the far ﻿edge? no can you not shoot from here!!. So

I have a question, why did you stay and shoot when the farmer wouldn't let you get to where you wanted to be? It doesn't sound like there were as many birds about as you were told. Is it because you shoot other land of his?

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I have a question, why did you stay and shoot when the farmer wouldn't let you get to where you wanted to be? It doesn't sound like there were as many birds about as you were told. Is it because you shoot other land of his?

As always i love the way the birds are displayed 👏

As I said in the script this field is fifteen miles from his farm . His main farm is in a very good pigeon area so to keep him sweet I agreed to shoot. Watching the birds they wanted the far end. He had driven his Land Rover to the far end to put out a banger so I expected him to let me drive. Where I set up was the wrong area but I did get birds from the field behind me. The farmer has complained about the huge number of birds so when we met on site "nothing" this was a bit of reverse psychology to make him feel guilty that I stayed and shot a low number as he is aware of the normal numbers we shoot.

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As I said in the script this field is fifteen miles from his farm . His main farm is in a very good pigeon area so to keep him sweet I agreed to shoot. Watching the birds they wanted the far end. He had driven his Land Rover to the far end to put out a banger so I expected him to let me drive. Where I set up was the wrong area but I did get birds from the field behind me. The farmer has complained about the huge number of birds so when we met on site "nothing" this was a bit of reverse psychology to make him feel guilty that I stayed and shot a low number as he is aware of the normal numbers we shoot.